Twenty six years ago, the panel of judges were so unsure who should win the Man Booker in 1992 that they ended up with a tie: Michael Ondaatje and Barry Unsworth. But on Sunday evening Ondaatje edged ahead, with his bestselling novel The English Patient being named the best winner of the Booker prize of the last 50 years, in a public vote.
The English Patient was novelist Kamila Shamsie's selection from the 1990s. The story moves between a nurse tending a horribly burned man in an Italian villa at the end of the second world war and a tragic love affair from his past.
"Few novels really deserve the praise: transformative. This one does, " said Shamsie. "It moves seamlessly between the epic and the intimate – one moment you're in looking at the vast sweep of the desert, and the next moment watching a nurse place a piece of plum in a patient's mouth ... It's intricately and rewardingly structured, beautifully written, with great humanity written into every page."
Reading the Booker winners of the 1990s, Shamsie said she had been struck by the fact that there were six years in which just one or no women were on the award's shortlists. But she said that The English Patient stood out, due to the Sri Lankan-born Canadian author's treatment of his female characters.
"A lot of books by male writers are only interested in the lives of men – they may be wonderful books, but the women figure quite peripherally, " she said. "Hana to me is the centre of the novel, and is done with such love, care and understanding and complexity."
————— 文章来源 / 卫报
poll/poʊl/
n. 投票
e.g.
carry out/conduct a poll
panel/ˈpænl/
n. 专家咨询组；讨论小组
e.g.
There are at least five writers on the panel.
tend/tend/
v. 照料，照顾，护理
villa/ˈvɪlə/
n. 别墅，度假别墅
transformative/trænsˈfɔːrmətɪv/
adj. 变革性的，有改革能力的
seamlessly/ˈsiːmləsli/
adv. 无缝地，无停顿地，衔接完美地
e.g.
The book has a seamless plot.
epic/ˈepɪk/
n. 叙事诗，史诗
e.g.
Gone With The Wind is an epic romance.
intimate/ˈɪntɪmət/
n. 密友，至交，亲密关系
sweep/swiːp/
n. （道路、河流、海岸等）一长段，绵延弯曲的地带
e.g.
a sweep of green lawn
plum/plʌm/
n. 李子，梅子
intricately/ˈɪntrɪkətli/
adv. 错综复杂地
e.g.
an intricately carved sculpture
rewardingly/rɪˈwɔːrdɪŋli/
adv. 有益地，值得地，有意义地
strike/straɪk/
v. 打击；使感到（震惊）
e.g.
I was struck dumb by his behavior.
shortlist/ˈʃɔːrtlɪst/
n. 入围名单
treatment /ˈtriːtmənt/
n. 处理方式，表现手法
e.g.
Shakespeare's treatment of madness in King Lear
figure/ˈfɪɡjər/
v. 出现，被提及
e.g.
A code hero figures largely in Hemingway's works.
peripherally/pəˈrɪfərəli/
adv. 边缘化地，次要地，外围地
end up with a tie
以平局告终，打成平局，不分胜负
e.g.
The match ended up with a tie.
edge ahead
逐步向前，渐渐领先
e.g.
A has edged ahead of B.
love affair
（尤指非夫妻间的）恋爱关系，婚外恋情
be done with
完成，结束